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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994.0628.TCSM.Minutes TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL SESSION OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL JUNE 28, 1994 A public meeting of the Fountain Hills Town Council was convened and called to order by Mayor Cutillo at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday,June 28, 1994, in the Fountain Hills Town Hall Council Chambers, located at 16836 E. Palisades Blvd.,Building C,Fountain Hills, Arizona. ROLL CALL-Following the pledge to the flag and the invocation by Councilwoman Tibbetts,roll call was taken. Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council: Mayor John Cutillo, Vice Mayor Wally Hudson,and Councilmembers Don Lawrence,Peg Tibbetts, Marianne Wiggishoff, Frank Clark and Bill O'Brien. Also present were Town Manager Paul Nordin, Town Attorney Bill Farrell,and Town Clerk Cassie Hansen. AGENDA ITEM #2. - PRESENTATION OF APPRECIATION PLAQUE TO MIKE SCHARNOW FOR FOUR AND A HALF YEARS OF SERVICE TO THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT OF THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS, FIRST AS CHAIRMAN OF THE PARKS AND RECREATION SUBCOMMITTEE AND SECONDLY AS CHAIRMAN OF THE FIRST PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION. Mayor Cutillo presented Mike Scharnow with a plaque "For Outstanding and Dedicated Service To The Fountain Hills Parks and Recreation Commission". Ms. Robin Goodman,Parks and Recreation Director,said the Parks and Recreation Department and the Town had experienced significant growth in the three-and-one-half years since Mr. Scharnow had been chairman in terms of programs offered and also in terms of the park, and it was widely recognized that much was accomplished due to his leadership. AGENDA ITEM#3. - CONSIDERATION OF THE SPECIAL EVENT LIQUOR LICENSE SUBMITTED BY THE FOUNTAIN HILLS ROTARY CLUB FOR FRIDAY, JULY 15, 1994. THE EVENT, A FUND RAISER FOR MIDNIGHT MADNESS, WILL BE HELD AT THE COMMUNITY CENTER FROM 5:00 PM TO 9:00 PM. Vice Mayor Hudson MOVED to approve the special event liquor license and Councilman Lawrence SECONDED the motion. The motion PASSED unanimously. Mayor Cutillo recommended moving ahead to Agenda Item #5 so Mr. Farrell could be excused following the Executive Session. AGENDA ITEM#5. -PURSUANT TO A.R.S.38-431.03.A.3.,VOTE TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR DISCUSSIONS OR CONSULTATION FOR LEGAL ADVICE WITH THE ATTORNEY OR ATTORNEYS OF THE PUBLIC BODY. Vice Mayor Hudson MOVED to go into Executive Session and Councilman Clark SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. The Council went into Executive Session at 6:35 p.m. Minutes of the Special Session of the Town Council 06/28/94 Page 1 of 4 AGENDA ITEM#6. - RETURN TO SPECIAL SESSION. The Council returned to special session at 7:08 p.m. AGENDA ITEM#4.-REVIEW AND CONSIDERATION OF THE PROPOSED BUDGET FOR THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FOR THE 94/95 FISCAL YEAR. ALL ASPECTS OF REVENUES AND EXPENDITURES WILL BE DISCUSSED AND CONSIDERED. Mr.Nordin introduced the first budget category for discussion: The Mayor's Council For Business Growth. He said the request was for$15,000 with several items listed. The largest single item was$5,000 for Phase 2 of the Artists' Mall Research Project for which the Town would pay one-third of Phase 2 and MCO would pay the additional two- thirds. He said the request was essentially the economic development money for the year and that the Council had voted to endorse the funding. Councilman O'Brien requested an overview of the Phase 2 Artists' Mall project. Mayor Cutillo said Phase 1 involved preparing a concept which was an artists' type village consisting of a village that would house 35 to 50 different artists and their wares. Research was done of numerous artists to see if there was an interest and there was great interest shown. Phase 2 would be to see if there was enough public interest or "draw" in the artists to make it worthwhile. The item was to be acted on with adoption of the tentative budget. The next category was retirement benefits for the Town employees, which had been discussed two weeks earlier. Mr. Nordin, using view-cells, presented a mission and a purpose statement prepared by the Benefits Committee. Next,he presented the objectives desired to be established for the retirement benefit program,including a 12%goal. He said the Town's program differed substantially from others in that many others offered health insurance benefits upon retirement and the Town's did not. He then showed how the Town's retirement benefit compared with other cities most often used for salary comparisons. Most of the cities shown had both Social Security and State Retirement plans,both of which required a one-for-one employee and employer contribution match. Fountain Hills' retirement plan called for a two-for-one match where the Town put in $2.00 for every $1.00 of employee contribution. He then showed comparisons with the cities/towns who,like Fountain Hills,did not belong to Social Security/State Retirement and how their employees were compensated. Fountain Hills' two-for-one match required the employees to contribute at least 3.5% to which the Town added 7%. Comparisons were then made with Fountain Hills business employers,governmental employers,and private industry employers. It was found that those employers rewarded the employees on the basis of how well the company performed--profit sharing. He then presented the comparison of the cities/towns who participated in both Social Security and State Retirement for an equivalent 11.25% contribution. Mr.Nordin noted that a significant discrepancy had been found in the areas of employer and employee contributions and that if the Council were inclined to grant an employer contribution increase,an employee contribution request should also be considered. Councilman O'Brien MOVED approval of a 1%increase by the Town to 8%contingent on a change in the matching ratio from 2:1 to 1:1. Councilman Clark SECONDED the motion. Mr. Nordin said a legal determination would have to be made as to whether an employee would be mandated to Minutes of the Special Session of the Town Council 06/28/94 Page 2 of 4 contribute the full 8%, or whether a lesser percentage could be selected with the Town matching that lesser percentage. The Town's present retirement plan had a$7,500 employer-employee contribution limit that might cause the benefits committee to bring an alternative retirement benefits plan before the Council in order to utilize the 8% benefit. It could require a change in retirement plan from a 457 program to a 401-type program. It was suggested that the motion be voted on and then consultations held with legal counsel to determine the legality and whatever options to the motions might be viable. Councilman Lawrence suggested tabling the item until the next meeting to allow staff to prepare an options report. Mr. Nordin answered that there would not be time to prepare such a report. Staff would need at least 60 days to prepare supporting documentation. Councilman Lawrence said he feared that some employees would be hurt by the 1:1 match and would not be able to afford the full 8%. He said he would be in favor of an 8% increase,but not the change from 2:1 matching. Mr. Nordin assured the Council that until such time an alternative proposal was brought back before them, the current retirement plan would remain in effect. The motion CARRIED with six aye votes to one nay vote by Councilman Lawrence. The next category discussed was Contingency and Reserve Funds. Mr. Nordin read the items contained in the category and pointed out that the Undesignated Reserve amount would fluctuate as changes were made to the overall budget. Mayor Cutillo MOVED to accept the Contingency and Reserve Funds as presented and Councilwoman Tibbetts SECONDED the motion which PASSED unanimously. The next item discussed was the Parks and Recreation budget. Mr. Nordin discussed recent changes made to the budget, to include the suggested addition of a youth program, and deletion of a duplicate item. Mayor Cutillo MOVED to accept the Parks and Recreation budget as presented with the inclusion of the youth program and Vice Mayor Hudson SECONDED. The motion CARRIED unanimously. The fmal budget for discussion was Golden Eagle Park. Mr. Nordin said that in response to previous Council concerns over the originally presented budget,he,Ms.Goodman and her staff had prepared a couple of alternatives for presentation. Option 1 significantly reduced by approximately $11,000 a proposed expenditure for a full-time position and reduced the position's duration from ten to seven months. The hiring for the position was timed so that the person would be on board to coincide with the completion of Golden Eagle Park, which would be when the additional help would be needed. Mr. Nordin proposed to the Council that if, for any reason, construction of the park was not completed as scheduled, the position for either option should not be filled until the construction was completed. Option 1 proposed to spend$73,455. Option 2 included$16,000 for a contractual service rather than the salary and benefits for a hired employee. Mr. Nordin said staff recommended Option 1 and it was felt that a full-time maintenance position would provide the full amount of care and attention necessary for a park such as Golden Eagle. Mayor Cutillo said he had trouble justifying the position,especially for the first year following the park's completion. He asked if the request came with the Parks and Recreation Commission's recommendation also,and Ms.Goodman answered that it did. Some discussions followed on the necessity of a full time employee and the scope of work to be performed. Councilman O'Brien MOVED approval of Option 1 as presented and Councilwoman Tibbetts SECONDED the motion. Mayor Cutillo said he was all in favor of Parks and Recreation and the Commission and thought they were doing a great job, he just was opposed to adding unnecessary staff and he felt this position was unnecessary. The vote CARRIED six aye votes to two nay votes by Mayor Cutillo and Councilwoman Wiggishoff. Minutes of the Special Session of the Town Council 06/28/94 Sliare Page 3 of 4. Mr. Nordin said the revisions would be to the Council on Friday,June 30 and the budget would be scheduled for adoption the following Thursday, July 7. Councilman Lawrence MOVED to adjourn and Councilwoman Tibbetts SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. The Town Council adjourned at approximately 9:03 p.m. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS By: 4i1 John . utillo, Mayor ATTEST: eA.VIA:t, lJ d, Cassie B. Hansen, Town Clerk PREPARED BY: �YV)/ Rosal Rucker, Adminispative Assistant CER I'IFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Special Session Meeting held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills on the 28th day of June, 1994. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present. DATED this 15th day of August, 1994. 0,A44:, Cassie B. Hansen, Town Clerk Minutes of the Special Session of the Town Council 06/28/94 Page 4 of 4,